Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Camouflaged Loopers

This is a perennial favorite of mine, Camouflaged Looper,
the larva stage of the Wavy-Lined Emerald Moth.
There are two caterpillars in the photo, one to each side of the central
disk. Camouflaged Loopers commonly feed
on the disk flowers of species in the Aster family, so spend much time exposed to
view. In order to look less like a tasty
morsel to passing predators, this caterpillar adorns its body with bits of the
plant on which it is feeding. To the
casual eye, it looks just like a part of the plant.

At Blue Jay Barrens, Orange Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida,
seems to be the plant of choice for this species. I encourage a large patch of Orange
Coneflower to grow outside the front door of my house, so I can enjoy the
Camouflaged Loopers through their entire season.

This looper was cleaning its mouth or doing some similar
facial area grooming. I gave it high
marks for doing what I thought was a superb Godzilla impersonation.

The above video shows some typical Camouflaged Looper
behavior. If you turn your sound on, you
will notice the chatter and buzz of Hummingbirds passing over my head. My Hummingbird feeders are only about eight
feet from me. I posted a longer version
of this film to YouTube which you can view by clicking HERE.

ABOUT BLUE JAY BARRENS

Located in the Bluegrass region of Southern Ohio, Blue Jay Barrens contains excellent xeric habitat inhabited by a wide variety of rare native plant and animal species. Since 1985, this private property has been managed to improve the integrity of the special ecosystems found here. This blog provides information on the current activities at Blue Jay Barrens.

RESPONSE TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS BLOG

It’s my intent to share information on current events at Blue Jay Barrens. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all photos were taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens.

Plant scientific names are from Gleason and Cronquist 1991. I realize that some changes in preferred nomenclature have occurred, but this is the principle reference I have been using for flora identification. Knowing this, I believe most people can figure out just what plant I’m talking about.

My discussions of flora and fauna are not intended to be a complete life history. There are plenty of good references for this type of information. I am discussing my personal experiences with plants and animals on this specific property. Any other information I may provide is intended to help you understand the significance of my observations.

MY 3 FAVORITE NATURE BOOKS:

1- Of Mosquitoes, Moths and Mice, by C Brooke Worth.2- Mosquito Safari: A Naturalist in Southern Africa, by C Brooke Worth.3- A Naturalist in Trinidad, by C Brooke Worth.

MY 3 FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS:

1- The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz2- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham3- The Windhover Tapes (1st 3 volumes) by Warren Norwood

MY 3 FAVORITE MOVIES:

1- Vanishing Point 1971 with Barry Newman2- Flim Flam Man 1967 with George C Scott - also like the book by Guy Owens3- The Lathe Of Heaven 1979 with Bruce Davison - also like the book by Ursula K LeGuin

MY 3 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan2- Fawlty Towers with John Cleese3- Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin